A Russian court has upheld a previous ruling to fine Perm 36, a NGO that previously managed the only Gulag museum in Russia, for failing to register as a "foreign agent" under a strict Russian law.

The law requires any NGO that receives funding from abroad and engages in political activity to formally register as a "foreign agent."

The NGO's former director Tatyana Kursina said that on September 15 a court in the city of Perm had upheld on a lower court's July ruling to fine the organization 300,000 rubles ($4,500), and her 100,000 rubles ($1,500).

The group created the Museum of Political Repressions in 1992 in the Perm region on land where a Gulag prison camp known as Perm 36 had once stood.

In March, Perm 36 announced it had started shutting down after regional officials seized control of the museum.

In April, the Justice Ministry ruled that Perm 36 was a "foreign agent."